The Ticket To Infinity
by thenote
Summary: AU. He boarded that half empty train to run away from his old life. She boarded that half full train to search for a new life. They weren't looking at the situation the same way, but in the end, they ended up on the same train.
1. half empty, half full

........................................................................................................o-o-o-o-o................................................................................................................

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_**_T_he _T_icket_ To I_nfinity**-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Name: Uchiha Sasuke----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Name: Haruno Sakura

Age: 18----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Age: 17 11/12

Departure Time: 5:25 AM-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Departure Time: 5:25 AM

Arrival Time: —--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Arrival Time: --

Destination: No where----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Destination: Some where

Ticket: #2--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ticket: #1

Platform Number: #7------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Platform Number: #7

........................................................................................................o-o-o-o-o................................................................................................................

()o()o()o()o()o()

_**"Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. **_

_**To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. **_

_**It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death."**_

()o()o()o()o()o()

o-o-o-o-o-o

_5:17_

He solemnly stared at the clock, his left hand clutching the boarding pass for the train, his body planted on one of the sides of the sodden, grimy train station two sided bench ready to leave. He was aware of a presence behind him, on the backside of the two sided bench but he didn't have enough mind to care.

There were five more minutes left before he had finally decided to let go.

To give up.

On life.

_5:18_

He sighed and ran one hand through his wet, ebony, tousled hair, his bangs covering his hopeless, bloodshot eyes. The only real luggage he was really carrying was a pitch black, glossy, leather wallet which had been fed with an infinite amount of crisp cash and sleek credit cards.

Of course, he hadn't known that one train ticket would only cost a measly amount such as fifty-six dollars, because he had only ridden on such a public transportation device once when he was little, so he had stuffed his wallet with all the cash he could find at that moment. Well, to anyone else that would have seemed to be a very hefty amount- to any middle class person, which were the majority of the people in the world. However, he wasn't a middle class person.

He was filthy _rich_.

Not _just_ rich.

_Filthy_ rich.

_5:20_

Many obnoxious and odd sounds were echoing from each direction, however, he had tuned them all out, trying to imagine the sweet, sweet white light that he would be experiencing in a few moments.

'_Why does my heart hurt…?'_

He needed relief. Fast.

'…_it hurts..so much..'_

He couldn't live like this anymore.

'_no more please! I'm begging you! Stop!'_

He didn't care if he was being selfish, taking himself from the people who _supposedly_ loved him. If they had, had actual feelings for him, they wouldn't have done this to him.

No. He didn't care if he was self-centered.

'…_I want the numbness back! Please! The pain hurts too much! Kami-sama help me! Please!'_

He didn't

…anymore.

_5:21_

_Cccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!_

Suddenly, the sound of the heaving engine broke through his well built walls, and he rose from his seat to finally get this release he needed oh so badly. To finally be broken off from the rest of the world, and to finally get rid of the pain. Finally.

'_Well Kami-sama, this is goodbye then. I mean I know that I'm not going to heaven, but I guess that's only because you never gave me a chance to show my worth.' _

Silently, he walked over to the middle of the tracks, ignoring the comments of the bystanders.

("Hey, look at that kid! He's gonna' kill himself!")

The train approached like a rhinoceros, huffing like a bull elephant.

'_Finally, I can get rid of this pain.'_

("Kid! Get off the tracks boy!")

He turned so that his back would be the one facing the impact, so he wouldn't have to see it.

_Cccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkk!_

("Someone help! There's a boy in the middle of the tracks!"

Cccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk!

The train was coming a little slower as, getting closer and closer until it was just fifteen seconds away, as the conductor tried his best to console it to stop without breaking it.

_5:24_

' _Goodbye Kami-sama, and thanks for…nothing I guess. I might be rude and ungrateful, but what was the meaning of a life where you only experienced pain and sorrow…So goodbye, goodbye—_

_BAM!_

o-o-o-o-o-o

* * *

**1. **

**First Meeting. First Train Ride. **

**Oh, how **_**That**_** went wrong…Or right…**

A small girl sat on the train station bench waiting for her parents to return.  
A small boy sat on the train station bench waiting for his parents to find him.

"Hi! I'm Sakura! You're kinda' cute! What's your name?" her bell like voice chimed as she stuck her face in his trying to get a look at his eyes which were covered by his long ebony bangs.

He looked up from under his bangs.

"Well? Come on, don't be shy! I don't bite!" she sang.

"…I'm…I'm Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha." he whispered, clearly irritated by such a peasant girl. Who did she think she was talking to him, when her apearence clearly stated that she wasn't from one of the noble families. Father had always told him not to associate with such…presences. He had said that they would just undermine his status. That is why he had only interacted with the Hyuuga and Namikaze clan's children. If it weren't for the workers' riot outbreak through Uchiha Enterprises, he wouldn't even be here.

What made it so much safer riding here?

"Ne? That kinda sounded like that American spy thingy person! What was his name…? Oh! It was _Bond. James Bond_." She giggled.

"You're annoying." He stated a-matter-of-a-factly raising his posture so he would not be on the same eye level.

"…Um..okay…" she started to sniffle. Her face tilted downward so that her pink bangs would cover her tear filled eyes.

He glanced over to her sniffling figure. She looked so…fragile…

His lips curved down. He hadn't meant to make her cry…

"…Are you crying?" he inquired quietly, softly pushing her bangs away from her eyes. She instantly turned around.

" No!" she said her fists clenching.

"Then why are tears running down your face?" he asked curiously. No one had ever spoken to him like that before, yet he couldn't make himself angry at her…

"Momma says (sniffle), that (sniffle), you should never let anyone(sniffle) think of you as, (sniffle) weak!" she hiccupped at the end.

He wasn't exactly sure about what to do, so he put his arms around her holding her tight to him…Her warmth radiated onto him and he smiled a little when he felt it.

'_This feels kind of nice…'_ he thought quietly.

From a few feet away, a relieved Itachi stood as he sighed content. That boy had almost given his mother a heart attack. His father was planning on calling the police if Itachi didn't find him in an hour. When he also saw the small, pink hunched form his little brother was holding so tightly, a small smile formed on his face.

'_Seems that my little brother has found a girlfriend…Before me..?'_ he smirked as he walked to the bench and kneeled down.

"Hmm…Well I guess I'm a big disappointment to my family…" Itachi said in a fake solemn voice. Of course, that wasn't true. He was the perfect heir to the company and family.

But that did get the two five year olds to stop embracing, as their heads shot up.

"It seems that Sasuke has a girlfriend before me. Oh how upsetting…" he smiled.

Sasuke quickly let go of the girl and scowled hard. Now how many five year olds knew how to scowl, grimace, growl, and glare? Well, Itachi knew only one.

"She is NOT my girlfriend!" he hissed. And how many knew how to hiss too?

"Yeah! And he is too rude to be my boyfriend!" the petite, pink-head spouted back. "I was just waiting for my kaa-san and tou-san to come back and take me to the train! It's my first train ride!"

"Really? It's ours too." Itachi smiled softly at the small girl while wondering how can something so small be so loud and energetic.

"Cool! Oh that's my kaa-san and tou-san! Bye pony-tail man! Bye-bye Uchiha Bond!" she grinned as she hopped off the bench and ran to a couple in the crowd.

Sasuke's scowl fell as he watched her retreating back, and turned into a soft, unconscious smile.

Until Itachil pulled him off the bench and onto his shoulders.

"Now you have a lot to explain, _Uchiha Bond." _Itachi said unapprovingly as he walked off.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder and met the girl's eyes one last time as the sound of the heaving engine came and went.

_Ccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkk!_

They had both missed their trains.

And the scowl returned.

* * *

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_5:17_

She grinned widely at the clock and sighed with pure anticipation, as her right hand softly grasped her train ticket, and her body carefully poised on a cool, wet side of a two-sided bench. She was not exactly aware of the presence on the other side of the two-sided bench, because frankly, her mind was just overloaded with so much excitement that it was impossible to think of anything else.

There were only five more minutes left before she was going to be at the dawn of a new beginning.

A new start.

On life.

_5:18_

She carefully combed her soft, shiny bubble gum pink through her nimble fingers, her bangs pushed off to the side so they wouldn't cover her beautiful jade eyes which were sparkling with life. The three bags of luggage—her crafty, large, emerald shaded purse; her enormous, hot pink suitcase; and her black, sparkly duffel bag— that she had managed to put together, were put around her in a protective position, like they were guarding _her_ instead of her guarding _them_.

Of course, she knew how a train station worked—her family had ridden in trains countless times, so she knew about how many low life scums would just love to take _care_ of her bags for her. The ticket was a hefty price, and she almost couldn't afford it. A whole fifty-six dollars was more money than she was given in her allowance for a year. Luckily, she had taken her whole life savings—two-hundred twenty-three dollars and eighteen cents plus the seven dollars that were only for emergency, because seven was a _guaranteed_ lucky number— and carefully placed them in her pretty jade purse. Yes, yes, it wasn't a lot. It was mostly because her family wasn't middle-class like most families were.

They were very _poor_.

Not _just_ poor.

_Very_ poor.

_5:20_

There were many annoying and exquisite noises coming from the directions around her, however she was blocking them out trying to also block out how much trouble and obstacles she was going to have to face.

'_My heart's just bursting with happiness!'_

She would hold on. Forever.

'…_Oh! It feels _sooo_ good!_'

She could wait a lifetime as long as she had this feeling.

'_I don't even know if I even have room for this much happiness!'_

But in the process, she would be hurting her loved ones…She still cared about them and she just absolutely hated herself for taking herself from them because they had given her so much.

Yes, she still cared and loved them.

'_Wow, this feeling is overwhelming…'_

She still will

…forever.

_5:21_

_Cccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkk!_

Suddenly, the loud roar of the engine pulled her out of her thoughts and she quickly rose from her seat to finally dawn a new life. To finally have a new beginning and finally embrace the happiness. Finally.

'_Oh! Well Kami-sama, wish me luck although I know that you will always be there for me like you have always.'_

Clumsily, she tried gathering her bags all at once and had them fall back down. Frustrated, she put all of them on the bench and tried to figure out which one she would carry in which position, until she heard many shouts and yells from behind.

("Hey look at that kid! He's gonna' kill himself!")

She whipped her head around so fast, that it hurt. But that pain was soon forgotten as she stared at the horrific sight in front of her. It was a boy, around eighteen, her age, who was actually quite handsome. But it was the fact that he was standing right in front of the rail-road tracks that was unbelievable.

'_Oh my god! Kami-sama, please forget my happiness for a moment and save that boy! Please!'_

("Kid! Get off the tracks boy!")

But instead the boy only turned around…And the train was coming at eighty-nine miles per hour. Forgetting her things, she ran to the side where all the other bystanders were shouting pleads for him to get off the tracks.

Cccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkk!

(Someone help! There's a boy in the middle of the tracks!")

Cccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkk!

She watched in horror as the boy still stood there with no intention or help of moving out of that hazardous zone, and as the train got closer by the minute.

There was no help coming.

He was going to die.

And no one was there to save him…

..yet..

'_Oh fuck! I can't let him die like this on the dawn of _MY_ new life! If you won't do something Kami-sama, I will!'_ she thought as she raced through the small crowd, and flung her body at him.

_BAM!_

And all went black…

o-o-o-o-o-o

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**Summary:** _When he boarded that half empty train, it was to forget his life. When she boarded that half full train, it was to start a new life. But even though their view on the situation was different, they both still ended up on the same train._

**Rating:** T for teens.

**Couples:** SakuSasu, NaruHina, ShikaTem, InoCho, GaaMats, NejiTen SuiKarSai.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunetly, I do not own any of the character Kishimoto has created.

The two main characters are Sasuke and Sakura.

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So what did you guys think of my first chapter? Hehe. Sorry for the cliffhanger..

I am SO SORRY for those people who tried to read this story, but then the my stupid computer screwed it up. I promise I'll try to make sure it won't happen again…

Have a nice day!

Please review! I fuel my story off of them!

-P.S.


	2. suprises, suprises, and coverups

_3_ ***T*****h*****e*** _3_

**_T_**

**_I_**

**_C_**

**_K_**

**_E_**

**_T_**

~to~

***INFINITY***

Ch. 3

**_by thenote_**

o-o-o-o-o-o

There was darkness everywhere, cloaking him, hiding him off from the rest of the world…

(Shallow breath…)

'_It's so dark…Am I dead…?'_

(Pained breath)

'_If I am dead…what's this weight on me? It's heavy…'_

("Hey kids! Wake up!")

'_Is that god? Nah, sounds too impolite to be him…But there's not enough venom in his voice for him to be the devil...'_

("Come on kids, get up!)

Feeling gradually came back to his numb arms, and his body responded back to the sounds echoing all around him. Slowly, his eyes opened to take in everything around him. However, all he could see was bright, bubble gum _pink_.

Lots and lots of _freaking_ pink.

'_Tch. Annoying.'_

He grunted and pushed the weight off of him roughly, and rolled over to his side to breathe. Beside him, the pink blob moved and pushed him roughly as well.

"What the fuck, you annoying brat?!" he hissed, through his clenched teeth turning over so the pink blob could see his 'Uchiha' wrath.

Sasuke turned over to see a huffing, red faced female, whose eyes were covered by her long, pink bangs. Her fists were balled up so hard that they were bleached white. He could see her teeth clench, and her knuckles crack impressively—

_BAM!_

"HEY!"

_BAM!_

(A very dignified, and manly growl…sort of….)

— right before she pounded him twice on his shoulder blade.

"_**I**_ just saved _**your**_ life, you **UNGRATEFUL, UNTHANKFUL, DISGUSTING, HORRIBLE, LITTLE**….grrr….." she screamed to the universe as she stood up, her knuckles balled together, and her jade tank top ripped from the side. Sakura panted heavily, moving her bangs to the side of her face, letting the bystanders get a very good view of her flushed face, and her violent jade eyes.

"Um, that's enough you two. What's important is that both of you are safe and alright." Sakura crossed her arms and pouted, while Sasuke just glared at the miniscule, ebony ants in the dirt for…um, being ants. "Now young man, I think that you need to thank this young lady for saving your life." the elderly man said.

He just grunted once more and then rolled over to his side to pick up his wallet from the side, and then stood up and walked away.

Sakura's darkened, jade eyes literally popped out of her sockets. She had just saved that ungrateful guy's life, and he was just walking away from her like nothing happened without thanking _her_, the girl who risked _her_ life on _her_ special day, to save _his_ life! Who did this guy think he was?

"Hey! Duck-ass!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, not only stopping Sasuke in his tracks, but getting the attention of the group of people around her as well. "I think YOU owe ME a thank you!" she hissed her arms crossed.

For a few seconds, with his back to her, the wind blew in his face making his bangs fall right over his dark eyes once more.

"_I think you owe me a thank you, for everything I've done for you! Everything I've sacrificed for you!"_

His eyes snapped open at the painful memory of his dysfunctional childhood…

"_You're right! You were never really a son to me! Just a fake imitation of Itachi…"_

The words echoed in his mind, as they mercilessly engraved themselves in his mind….

He quickly shook his head, trying to forget the memory, and his fist balled up once for, his nails digging into his skin.

"I don't owe you anything…." He whispered to himself.

"Huh?" Sakura said bluntly, breaking him out of his agonizing memories.

Before he could even process the words going through his head, a quiet, "Thank you…" came out of his mouth as he started shuffling back up the stairs and towards the motionless train. Why did he thank her? Even he didn't know, because he was certainly not ecstatic with her decision to interfere with his suicid—Um... Never mind.

"Uh…" for once in her life, Sakura had no idea what to say at his sudden, bipolar 'thank you' for her. So instead, she replied with a still surprised sounding, "You're welcome…"

Well, the bystanders were certainly getting one hell of a show, which caused them to forget about their train, their luggage, and the fact that the boy didn't _accidentally_ stand in the middle of the tracks.

The last one of those three forced Sakura back to reality, as a glower over took her confused expression.

"You…You tried to _kill_ yourself!" she snapped at him, earning un-approving gasps from the bystanders, and causing him to flinch and stop in his tracks, _again._

"You were trying to commit suicide!" or "This boy was tryin' to kill himself!" was all Sasuke could hear, as his eyes narrowed, and he tasted a metallic flavor in his mouth as he grit his teeth so hard that for a second he thought they would break. His calm and collected composure was beginning to wear off, and now, all he could see was red…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**

* * *

****2.**

**Sign Here for A Package.**

**x_________ **

**Package****- Arrival of super hyperactive, knuckle-headed, inhuman boy: **_**Naruto Namikaze**_

(Sigh…)

_Drip._

(Groan…)

_Drip._

(Annoyed sigh….)

Five year old Sakura swung her petite, peach toned legs back and forth trying to get enough momentum for her swing to send her flying above her wooden patio, and onto the lush, green lawn just to get away from the bothersome sound of her broken drain. It had been two hours since her one and only best friend, Ino had left to go see her mother in the city, and she was already lonely…

She would have gone and played with the other children…but she was still…afraid.

She wasn't afraid of _them_.

No.

She was afraid…of _rejection_….

It had been a while since anyone had called her 'Forehead girl!' but she wasn't willing to take any chances without Ino. Her self-esteem and confidence levels had always been low like that. So here she was, on her family swing, on her small cherry-stained, wooden patio, bored to death.

She gazed out, toward the lush, green meadows, filled endlessly with different and unique assortments of flowers, where she and Ino would play every day. Then, towards the other side, where her family's and the rest of the town's crops lay amongst the endless fields of green, only to be stopped short hundreds of miles away by acres and acres of a gigantic forest, with titanic trees larger then Oto's skyscrapers themselves, called 'The Forest of Death.' But even with a name that morbid and grim, it hadn't scared away the few visitors who had decided to test their luck and hike through there, only to never return again…

Shaking that dreadful thought from her small—large— head, she brought her gaze back to her small village. There were only about fifteen miniature, wooden, shed-like houses which formed a circle—a ring, where the middle was where considered the meeting place, the market place, and the place where their water source was, since they still used wells…Behind the small ring of houses, was the village's farming area. They all shared one enormous farm filled with different assortments of vegetables, fruits, and even animals. Her village wasn't fifteen separate houses, no, they were one large family.

Everyone in this town knew every person in each household, because their grandparents' had known them as well. They all had graduated and went to school together. They all also spent and celebrated every small occasion together, and grieved for any loss together. Everyone supported each other during the harsh seasons, and flourished together during the other seasons.

Yep.

One big _happy_ family…

…sort of.

Not wanting to depress herself any further, Sakura glanced at the Nara compound, which was the larger, shed-like house next to hers. The Naras tied her family, the Harunos, for having the largest compound, because they were both the most powerful, ruling families in the small village of Konoha, or as many tourists say, "The Leaf."

The Harunos and Naras were the two families that brought in the money for Konoha. While the Harunos grew crops which were needed desperately for medical reasons in big time cities such as Oto, the Naras raised a special deer farm. This deer farm was one of a kind, and absolutely unique for its natural facilitating. The medicine and antidotes which were prepared from decaying deer antlers, were in steady demand throughout the country, and that kept them in business. But even though the Naras and Harunos were the most powerful clans in the village, they didn't use one figure head. Instead, both families were considered dominant because of their ability to always stay neutral and peaceful.

Sakura sighed with even more angst for herself. Shikamaru Nara, the Naras' solemn heir, and she were betrothed to each other from the day she was born to "forever unite two great clans into one."

Ugh.

It wasn't that she didn't like Shikamaru—it was the fact that her parents had chosen who _she_ would _have_ to _marry_ even before she got to know him. Sure, Shika and her were great pals, because of Ino and the robust boy she was betrothed to, Choji, but that didn't mean that she wanted to _marry_ him. Since the first day of school, Sakura had excelled in her class as the smartest female, because she tried her very best. However, Shikamaru on the other hand, didn't even have to _try_ to be at the top of his classes. Heck, he even _slept_ half of day _in_ class.

What bothered her the most, was that he—

(Shuffle…)

—he…what was she going to say?

(Shuffle.)

_What_ was that…?

What _was_ that???

What was _that_!?!?

(Shuffle.

"Ow!"

Shuffle.)

"Hey! You bet-better come out here! Now!" Sakura shrieked at the small bushes under her patio, while crossing her arms and jumping off the swing. She leaned over the edge of the railings, and waited _almost_ fearlessly, _while_ grinding her teeth together.

Something spikey and yellow popped up a little, so she could only see the top.

"Com-come out!" she squeaked, as the spikey, blond thing jumped up so she could see its—his whole form. She tilted her head, and cocked a petite, pink eye-brow at the sight before her.

It was a small boy, who was noticeably smaller then her, but his features showed that he was around the same age as her. He was dressed in orange and blue rags, and his tanned face was a covered in dirt and blood. She could barely see the small whisker-like birth marks on the sides of his face, giving it a fox like shape. His large mass of blond hair, stood up in different directions, but somehow, only a small amount of filth and dirt was in it. He seemed a little pale, and very skinny even with those cerulean blue eyes which were full of excitement.

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head while showing off a large, bright white grin, causing her to smile a little. He sort of reminded her about what Shika had said about someone with a Jesus-complex, who always made you smile.

"Um…hi…my name is…Naruto…" he said timidly. He just couldn't stop staring at the godes—girl in front of him…She was _very_ pretty, in a _very_ different way. Naruto had seen attractive girls before—well at least the ones he could remember—but she was…exotic and special, with her bubble gum pink hair, and her beautiful jade eyes, put on such a petite little body.

"…Oh. My name is Sakura." She smiled shyly, "Sakura Haruno. Um…can I ask you a question _Naruto_?"

"Sure thing Sakura!" he grinned even wider, which Sakura thought was impossible.

"…Okay. So, um, are you…"

"…Are I what?"

"…Naruto, it's _'Am I what?_' first of all!"

"…Alright. _Am_ I what?"

"…Are you….

(_whisper-a hobo-whisper_)

Naruto?"

"Could you repeat that, I couldn't hear you."

"Are you a _–whisperhobowhisper-_ ?"

"…A _what_?"

"Grr…Are _you_, a hobo?!"

"…A hobo?"

"Yes! Are you, _Naruto Whatever_ a _H-O-B-O_?"

"…no."

"Then why are you dressed like that, huh?"

"…I…I-I can't…I can't remember…"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't…remember much at all…All I do remember was that I was following my pet fox, Kyuubi, because he ran away…I can't remember anything else…"

"Oh…What about your kaa-san and tou-san? You have to have a family somewhere…"

"…I don't remember them."

"… But how did you end up here? This is the village of Konoha, thousands of miles away from any other place that inhabits humans."

"I don't rem—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…Hey, do you remember your last name?"

"I…I—

_**[z.z.z.z….z.z.z.z]**_

_("Naruto! My beautiful baby boy!"_

"_Mom! Let me go! I wanna fight that jerk!"_

"_Hehe…I knew you were born with the Uzumaki spirit!"_

"…_Uzumaki? What is that?"_

"_Oh, it was my maiden name."_

"…_Cool! That means I'm an Uzumaki too!")_

_**[z.z.z.z....z.z.z.z]**_

"Naruto! Are you okay?! You blanked out for a minute…" Sakura's calming voice brought him back to reality, as she shook him lightly. He turned to her with a fake, sheepish grin on his face when he caught sight of her worried expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" he beamed, "Oh, and my last name is Uzumaki, I think."

"…Uzumaki? Hmm…Okay!" she smiled at him once before her glance rested on the darkening sky. It was noon, and her mother would need her any minute now for dinner…But she didn't want leave Naruto out here…

Especially because she was the only one who knew about his presence in this village…And the fact that he had lost most of his memory after chasing his pet fox, was also a small factor.

Sighing she fell back onto the light burgundy swing, with a confused look on her face. When Naruto just stared at her with baffled look on his tomato red, blushing face she pointed to the empty seat next to her, which caused him to immediately claim it. Perplexed, she cupped her chin and pouted a little, causing him to think that it was the cutest thing in the world.

"Hmm….What am I going to do about you?" she sighed glumly.

"What are you going to do about who?" a calm, young male voice made them both jump, as their eyes fixed onto the person standing beside them.

"Iruka-sensei!" Sakura chimed cheerfully, as she flung her arms around the man. Naruto shrunk back a little, making his body disappear behind hers.

"Hello to you too, Sakura." Iruka smiled softly at his favorite student, "I was just coming over to give your parents an oral report card. Now what were you saying about doing something with someone?" he asked cautiously raising an eyebrow.

Sakura frowned slightly, as she pulled Naruto out from behind her by his small hand.

"This is Naruto Uzumaki." she stated, as Naruto looked up to see the man named Iruka. He didn't know why, but he felt a lot calmer around him…

"…Naruto Uzumaki? I've never seen him in the village before…" Iruka bent down to his eye level and brushed away some of the wild, blond hair covering his eyes.

"Well, that's because he doesn't live here. He doesn't remember anything except his name and the last thing he was doing, which was chasing his pet fox." She sighed.

"…Sakura, this sounds a little odd." Iruka breathed as he touched the scars on Naruto's face, causing him to flinch. "This boy," he paused for a second, "just ended up here, in Konoha, with absolutely no memory about anything…I think that we should try to contact the cities and villages around us. Maybe someone can help us find his parents, because I certainly think that they must be trying to look for him…"

"Hmm, I guess that we can do that…But what if no one claims him, or has any information on him? Can we keep him?" Sakura pouted cutely, and Iruka sighed once more.

"Hey! I can _hear_ you too! I'm not a dog!" Naruto shrieked, his face flustered with irritation.

Iruka smiled softly at the boy. Without the rags and filth, he was very cute. Especially because of his baby blue eyes which had something special in them that he had never seen before. Anyone would want a child this adorable, and he just ended up on the Haruno compound. Unfortunately, Iruka was never going to be able to have children, because of an accident which occurred when he was younger.

"But wait! What if the person who _'claims'_ that he knows him, doesn't really, and then _hurts_ him!" Sakura growled, putting a hand under her chin, thinking of all the possibilities that were running through her mind.

"…" Iruka hadn't thought of that yet…What if Sakura was right? Would he really let this innocent child's life be in question like that? He would never know if that person was a child predator or not…

That fact left him with only one remaining choice.

"Naruto…" Iruka stared into the boy's eyes. "Would it be okay with you if you lived with me from now on?" he asked quietly. Sakura's eyes drifted to Naruto, and Naruto's eyes widened a bit.

He was going to have to take in Naruto as his own.

"Don't worry, I'm not a bad man!" he claimed when Naruto stepped back, unsure. "I teach the academy here. Sakura is one of my students, too." He chuckled.

Naruto glanced at Sakura who was grinning at the thought of a new friend, and then back at Iruka who seemed like the nicest man in the world. He didn't have any other person to turn to…And Iruka seemed like a great man.

"…Alright." Naruto grinned back.

Iruka's eyes widened a little, not because of Naruto's answer, but because he was finally going to have his own son.

Sakura beamed and then started bouncing in place. "Yes! I'm gonna go tell kaa-san! Bye Iruka-sensei! Bye Naruto!"

And then she ran through the door and disappeared before it could even shut. That only left Iruka and Naruto.

Iruka put his hand out for Naruto to take it, and he did.

As they walked down to the small village's center, Iruka glanced down at Naruto who was grinning madly, still covered in filth.

"Naruto, first we are going to go back to my home and make you look presentable. Second, we are going to go back to the Harunos and then to the Naras village meeting tonight and are going to ask them for permission for you to live here." Naruto sighed, because he was clearly already bored because of the idea.

"And then," Iruka paused to see Naruto's curious face as he looked up, "we're going to go talk and eat ramen at the famous Ichiraku Ramen Shop." He grinned at Naruto.

Only one question ran through his mind as the dawn of a new life engulfed him for eighteen years.

"What is ramen?"

And thus, the start of a new friendship.

* * *

o-o-o-o-o-o

'_Uh oh…This is bad…'_ was the only thought that ran through Sakura's head, as she glanced at the group of people near her shouting insults, and then back to Sasuke whose calm figure had turned rigid in defense.

"Um…people…" Sakura said waving her arms, trying to calm them down.

Geez, if she hadn't said anything about him, these people wouldn't have given a damn. The fact that these people would gang up on someone like that disgusted her…

o-o-o-o-o-o

Sasuke was on the edge of slaughtering all these people with his pocket knife right now. The obsidian tomaoes in his glowing, vermillion colored eyes were spinning wildly, as he tried to remain as calm as possible, and somehow his serene face _was _convincing. However, his rigid position and balled fists gave away his irritation.

Exactly when he was planning to turn to those people and sneer a remark back at them, a sudden, incredibly loud, piercing whistle silenced the brewing crowd. He turned his head a little to see who had saved him from murdering the throng of people.

…Ugh.

It was the pink-haired girl.

o-o-o-o-o-o

'_Ugh! Why won't these people listen to me!'_ Sakura grimaced and glared at the group, because of her futile attempts to get them to calm down.

'_**Well Sakura, that leaves you with only one choice!'**_her inner self grinned evilly.

One.

-

-

-

Two.

-

-

-

Three.

(Insert loud whistle)

Suddenly, the crowd stopped and fixed their infuriated stares on the petite girl in front of them. She sighed in relief—which soon went away when a random woman shouted, "What is it girl!?"

'_Crap, why didn't I think of a plan _before_ I decided to interrupt them?!'_ she yelled at herself.

'_**Well, don't ask me! I'm just your inner self!'**_ her inner Sakura crossed her arms and pouted.

'_Ugh…Mom always did say to think before I did something…'_

"Well? Why did you interrupt us?!" another elderly man asked impatiently.

"Um…Well….I…He…" she muttered, trying to think of something to get them out of this fix. She could definitely feel a heated gaze on her, as she glared at the ground.

"What is it?"

And then she immediately screamed out the first thing that came into her head, and went out of her mouth.

And immediately regretted it.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"He's my cousin! And..um…he has dementia! He can't control where his mind leads him to sometimes, cause he's handicapped! And he _wasn't_ trying to kill himself!...Yeah!" the pink haired girl blurted out. He went rigid once more. However, he wasn't as irritated by her response as he should have been….

"Wha—?" the speaker was elbowed in the ribs by an elderly woman, "I mean, we're sorry for ganging up on your cousin right now…We didn't know that he was…unstable." Another random man said quietly.

"Thank you for understanding." The girl said…It almost sounded like she was _proud_ for making up such a stupid lie…

But wait.

Wasn't dementia for the elderly?

As if reading his thoughts, another person questioned "Hey! Isn't dementia for the elderly though?"

"I told you that he was handicapped!" she snapped back at the teenager, causing him to shrink back.

'_Geez…How could something so small be so infuriating and loud?'_ Sasuke winced at the violent vibes surrounding her.

"And why should we believe you?" a snobby teenager snorted from behind her.

She quickly spun around and faced her. "Why should you believe me? Oh…I don't know…" she said in a really calm, yet fake voice, "Maybe, because I have three degrees from medical school!" she shouted at her. "God! What is wrong with you people!" she grumbled as she ran over to Sasuke and grabbed his hand and started pulling him back to the platform.

Oddly, he was too busy rapping his head around the fact that a girl who only looked about sixteen— because of her features and not her size— had already graduated from medical school?

What the hell?

o-o-o-o-o-o

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

**Summary:** _When he boarded that half empty train, it was to forget his life. When she boarded that half full train, it was to start a new life. But even though their view on the situation was different, they both still ended up on the same train._

**Rating:** T for teens.

**Couples:** SakuSasu, NaruHina, ShikaTem, InoCho, GaaMats, NejiTen SuiKarSai.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunetly, I do not own any of the character Kishimoto has created.

The two main characters are Sasuke and Sakura.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Well what did you guys think? Please review! Please! If I get a couple more then last time, I'll give you a sneak peek at the next chapter…or maybe one from the future….

Remember, I am very, very, VERY thankful for all you wonderful people who want to make my day brighter, because of your reviews! All of you are SO amazingly awesome!

-P.S.


	3. little pieces from the past

o()o()o()o()o

"_**I'm the kind of person who just can't wait to get on a train and not know where I'm going. **_

_**I definitely want to live life to the fullest. And that's the type of man I'm attracted to -**_

_** somebody with that spontaneous spirit."**__**  
**__-__**Summer Altice**_

o()o()o()o()o

o-o-o-o-o-o

Black.

_Tick-tock._

Darkness…

_Tick-tock._

…loneliness

_Tick-toc_—

"Hey! It's you again!"

'_Damn it…Why me…?'_ he thought as he stiffened at the loud chime of her annoying voice.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Sasuke glared.

Hard.

Sakura grinned.

Harder.

And the train engine whined.

Hardest.

o-o-o-o-o-o

x-x-x**The**x-x-x .

______________________ . — **T**i**c**_k_**e**t — . ______________________

(To)

*o*o*o*_**Infinity**_*o*o*o .

Chapter **3**

_By thnote_

* * *

__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- "Don't miss your train!"_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__

* * *

o-o-o-o-o-o

He inwardly groaned, as he casted a blank look at the dark window his face was pushed up against. Why did God hate him so much?

She…the girl…just wouldn't stop talking…

She went on and on about the most trivial topics—like how she thought shoe laces were a waste of time, or how cranberries were not as good as cherries—like there was no tomorrow.

Why?

…_Why?_

WHY?!

Hadn't he gone through _enough_ of hell? Now he had to spend —he didn't know how many, because he had forgotten about time — hours with her. What made the ticket master give her the same cabin as him?

o(**IMPORTANT-Flashback**)o

_He slowly walked up to the ticket master behind the window, trying to keep his serene composure from crumbling, oddly like his world did. His shady leather jacket was soaked because of the fallen rain, and the dark cobalt and ebony sweater were trapping the small amount of warmth he had, between it and his taut chest. _

_Quietly, he pulled out his wallet from his dark jeans, causing the elderly ticket master to eye him curiously._

"_What can I do for you son?" the man asked through the bars."_

_Sasuke swiftly pulled out a five-hundred dollar note from his sleek, leather wallet and placed it through the bars of the window."_

"_I hope this is enough for a ticket." He said gruffly, his obsidian bangs over his darkened eyes._

_The man gaped at the bill and held it up to the light to see if it was real. It was real alright. He raised an eyebrow at the boy, "A ticket is only fifty-six dollars son."_

"_Then, keep the change." He replied in a calm voice._

_A four hundred and forty six dollar tip? That was crazy…This boy clearly didn't understand the value of money. He was probably a rich, spoiled brat who was given whatever he wanted by his appearance, and lack of knowledge about public transportation. However, the aura he was giving off had a different appeal…._

_The ticket master smiled, and muttered a thank you as he placed the money in his pocket._

"_Now where is your destination, and what time would you like to depart?"_

'_Now where is your _destination_, and what time would you like to _depart_?' echoed through his mind as his hand balled up into a fist. The pain was sinking into him again…_

"_I don't know where or when." He whispered, "But it has to be soon."_

_The man examined him and chuckled oddly. "Hmm…You want a train to nowhere right?"_

_Sasuke's head shot up, as his calm composure went away, and his throat went dry. The man smirked as he pulled out a little book, which somehow Sasuke knew wasn't the schedule book. "Let's see…Your name?"_

"_I don't need to give you that." He spat._

_In return, the ticket master chuckled once more. _'What the hell? Is this guy psychotic?'_ Sasuke thought as the man flipped to random pages and muttered to himself. _

"_Ah! Here is one!" the man grinned, his wrinkled skin stretching over his pale cheek bones, "You're ticket number two, for train number seven, platform seven. You'll be seated in cabin seven as well." He said as he slid the small, wrinkled ticket through the bars. _

_What, was seven a lucky number or something?_

_Sasuke quickly grabbed the ticket and glanced at it once before pushing it into his pocket. It looked battered, old, and…used before….Ugh. _

"_Thanks…" he grumbled as he turned and walked away from the window._

_With one evil grin the man muttered a "You're welcome, son. You're welcome…" before he glanced back at the secret scheduling book he had made…He remembered the sunny pink-haired, who was the total opposite of him and grinned. _

'That boy was going to have one heck of a train ride…'_ he thought as he disappeared behind the closed window._

o(**End of Flashback**)o

There were plenty other cabins and random seats on the half **empty** train as well. But she had just been so damn stubborn and annoying with her stupid remarks like, "Well, if you don't like where I sit, go sit somewhere else! It's my side of the cabin as well!"

o(**Flashback**)o

_Section 7; Seat B_

_Sasuke grumbled some incoherent syllable as he grudgingly sat down on his seat, in the empty, pale cabin. The seats were a soft shade of grey, and there were two seats on the side of each cabin. Two out dated magazines sat quietly on the tiny wooden table between the seats, and the carpet was a disgusting shade of olive. By looking out the large, glass windows, he could see only pitch black hue, but the small light that was rising from the western side gave the outside a soft glow. About three feet above his head, was a luggage carrier, which he apparently didn't need._

_It wasn't like the many amazing limousines or private jets he had taken, but it was surely a different experience. For a moment, it the fact that people rode on this every day fascinated him. _

_But _The _pain engulfed him once more, causing him to clutch the pocket knife in his right pocket… _

_He could end this very quickly…_

_Just one quick swipe to the wrist, and his blood flow would become irregular and he would be rid of the pain forever…It would cause him a little more pain, but soon the numbness would overtake him. And he would finally be able to see that mesmerizing white light at the end of tunnel…Just like an approaching train…_

_The irony caused him to give off a dark, throaty chuckle. Slowly, he pulled the knife from his pocket—_

"_Hey it's you again!" an annoying voice chimed from behind him._

_Oh, hell no…_

'Shit! I thought I ditched her back at the bench…'

_He stiffened and slid the pocket knife into the folds of his pocket. From the corner of his eye, he could see her malicious grin as she tried to push her enormous bags of luggage into the overhead carrier._

_It toppled back down_

_On. Her. Forehead._

_Letting himself slip once, he chuckled darkly as the petite girl was being crushed by the monstrous bags._

"_Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkk!" she squealed as she tried refrain them from falling on her again, only to have them fall on her legs, suspending her from getting up. "Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" she cursed as she pulled her legs out from underneath. _

_She slowly crawled away from the bags and decided to leave them there. Her body was in army drill position, ready to crawl under a bar of wire. He raised an eye-brow at he expression. She sort of reminded him of a small girl he had met once at the same train sta-_

_Never mind._

_She was wearing an innocent, white, cotton shirt, which apparently had a small hole on her left hip, and a Sakura Blossom printed on the front. Her baggy, very dull rainbow colored pants went down to her ankles, but the bagginess went from bottom to top, so her ankles were totally covered. The sandals she word were a faded, soft pink with duck tape around the worn out front of her right slipper. A lengthy amount of bubblegum pink hair was sprawled over her fragile shoulders, kept in place by a faded red ribbon, giving her a cute, yet adolescent look._

_Her body shot up quickly as she huffed at the luggage. Finally, she gave in and just placed them on the empty seat next to her. Sighing in content, she sat plopped down on the seat, causing it to make a strangled squeak. She turned to face him and grinned. All he could do was avert his glaring gaze from her grin of excitement. _

'Hmm…How should I start a conversation?'_ she pondered until she realized something very important was missing._

"_So…What's your name?"_

"…_Hn."_

"_Hn? What the hell is 'hn'?" she responded, clearly irritated by his smart-aleck remark._

_Ugh. This girl was so….annoying. Why couldn't she leave him alone? He groaned slightly, weaving a pale hand through his ebony spikes. Well since she wasn't going to leave him alone—or die in the next couple of hours…most likely—he had no other response._

"_Isn't it common courtesy to give your own first?" he grumbled._

"_Oh!" she squealed, and covered her mouth. "My name is Haruno Sakura. Now, what's your name?"_

'…Haruno Sakura? That sounded familiar…'_ he thought as he stared out the window and into the darkness. _

"_Hn. It's Sasuke." The name rolled off his tongue oh so sexily that it made her unconsciously blush._

"_Just Sasuke? Don't you have a last name?"_

_His eyes slightly widened under his bangs, as he glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye. Luckily, for him she was fixing the ribbon on her head. She wanted to know…his last name? _

_His last name…?_

_-_

_-_

_-_

_The name that was said with such pride? _

**UCHIHA. **

_The name which was said with such honor? _

**UCHIHA**_. _

_Such dignity?_

**UCHIHA.**

**-**

**-**

**-**

_The name which brought irrevocable fear and panic to any & every one?_

—'Make them remember our name Sasuke! Don't let them forget who _**WE**_ are…Or else…_'—_

…_**Uchiha**__._

_-_

_-_

_-_

_He preferred not to say. _

_For the next few seconds there was a pregnant pause, in which Sakura bit the bottom of her plump lip, where Sasuke glared at the blackness, and in which the engine of the train whined and heaved. _

o(**End of Flashback**)o

However, that was all put past them, and now the girl was babbling on and on about absolutely nothing. Today of all the days, Sasuke's tuning out abilities had just suddenly decided to break. So, for the past he-didn't-know-how-may-hours he had to listen to her constant rants.

She talked.

And talked.

He remained silent.

"And the woman just _glared_ at me! I mean why would she glare at _me_?! Well, I _did _kind of kill her pet cat—but it was an accident I tell you! She had no right coming over to me and glaring at me like that!"

Except for the occasional, inaudible groan.

o-o-o-o-o-o

However, there was one important fact that he hadn't realized yet.

When she talked and had his attention…

…he didn't feel any pain whatsoever.

o-o-o-o-o-o

After some (Translation: A very, very, _very_ long period of nothing but a infinite amount of talking) time, she had stopped chattering about whatever-she-was-chattering-about and had slowly slumped against her seat, most likely trying to unconsciously place her head on someone's shoulder.

But unfortunately (well, for her) no one was beside her, so her small figure drooped against nothing. Sasuke watched her, his eyes crinkled with bitter amusement.

'_Annoying girl…Sakura.'_ he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, as he watched her quietly snore.

Her porcelain face looked so…peaceful.

It made him almost jealous. But only almost, because he was Sasuke _Uchiha_ and nothing was ever suppose to get to him.

His hands balled up into fists, involuntarily. Why was _his _life so complicated? Why couldn't _he_ ever have that kind of look on _his_ face?!

'_You know why…' _Shit! It was the pain again!_ 'You have to pay for the deeds your __**family**__ has done…'_ his subconscious echoed with venom intertwined between the words.

Mechanically, he abruptly stood up—shaking. With resentment.

And the tiniest bit of remorse.

He hastily, grabbed his razor sharp, knife from his pocket and slid it out and into his palm…

* * *

**3. **

_Naruto Namikaze & Sasuke Uchiha_

----**Disaster Play-**_**date**_** from Hell**-----

c-o-o-c-o-o _Plus_ Hinata c-o-o-c-o-o

Messy spiked blond hair. Blue eyes. Jesus-like compatibility.

Duck-ass shaped spiked black hair. Obsidian eyes. Devil-like compatibility.

_Total opposites._

_-_

_-_

_-_

North pole,

meet

South pole.

-

-

-

o-o-o-o-o-o

(Your

_newbestestfriend_

forever.

And ever.)

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Naruto this is Sasuke. Sasuke this is Naruto."

(Glare.

'_I don't like you.'_

Scowl.)

"Hello _Naruto._"

" 'Ello _Sas-kay_."

"Good! Both of you boys are getting along!" Kushina Namikaze said cheerfully, clashing her hands together. "Now, you two get along and I'll go grab Hinata and I'll be back in a few mins!" she smiled happily as she stepped on the 'Welcome' mat, and walked out the door. And that left Naruto and his play-_date_ standing and staring at each other with blank looks on their faces. Although Naruto's expression was a little more of in-space, then Sasuke's serene one.

Naruto twitched.

Sasuke stared.

'_Why did this guy act like he was so cool?'_ Naruto grimaced at Sasuke's eerie blank stare.

He just wouldn't stop staring at him...it was creepy…

"I hate—" Naruto was cut short when his mother walked back into the three year old's room.

"Oh, and Naruto?" his mother knelt down to his level and looked in his eye.

"Yes, baa-san?" Naruto asked.

His mother smacked him lightly in the back of the head, "It's kaa-san, not baa-san Naruto!" she hissed.

"Ow…"

Kushina sighed. Then she glanced back at Sasuke who had seated himself at Naruto's little orange table, and was entertaining himself by staring at Naruto's latest ambassador signature printed on a green piece of construction paper.

The Uchihas had some very important '_business_' they had to take care of, so they had entrusted their second heir, who was still much too young to be involved in their '_work_', to the Namikazes for the weekend.

Minato had just started his career as the Ambassador, and was doing an excellent job. However, he needed to gain the cooperation and support of the two most powerful clans between Oto and Konoha—the Hyuugas and the Uchihas. Luckily, the Hyuugas had proposed an arranged marriage between their daughter and heiress to the Hyuuga empire, Hinata and the ambassador's first born son, Naruto when they were at age. Being tied to a public official was a huge milestone for the Hyuugas, since it would raise their standards beyond being the most powerful. On the other hand, being tied to one of the most powerful families in Oto was an even bigger milestone for Minato. It would gain even more people's trust and support towards him.

However, Minato wasn't into black deeds, since he was a truthful and honest man (one of the many reasons Kushina had married him) and had insisted that their children would meet to see if they were compatible. In the midst of this, the Hyuugas and Uchiha had proposed another _'meeting'_ for condolences towards the missing and assumed dead oldest member of the Uchiha clan, Madara. During this _'meeting'_ they had discussed many important possibilities, and the newest head of the clan, Fugaku, realized that he also desperately needed ties with a public figure. His clan was not only famous for its fleeting business, but also for its expert detectives and police officers. So he was tied in with the law,—in more ways than one— the business world, and now he needed to have a part in politics. This way, he would be equal with the Hyuugas, since the Hyuugas owned the Byakugan Branch of hospitals instead of police stations.

And that was why, today, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Namikaze had a play-_date_. Kushina was watching the two punks—uh, adorable boys while her beloved husband was representing Byakugan Hospitals—the hospital which sees _all_ of their patients' needs— for Oto, and now she had to go pick up Hinata. Naruto had met Hinata once, when he was about three, and Sasuke had definitely met Hinata a couple of times, but all three of them had never been _together_ before.

"Naruto…Please…"

"Yeah kaa-san?"

Kushina took in a deep breath. Okay, so it was illegal to leave children under the age of thirteen unsupervised, but she had Ayame watching them from the kitchen.

She had become the Namikazes' personal chef after Minato and Kushina had taken a short honeymoon (this was before Naruto was born) to Minato's old home, a small village called Konoha, where they had tried some of Ayame's father's world famous ramen. Delighted with her, they offered her a job as their own personal cook, hoping that she could make them (as in Kushina) ramen as many times as they wanted. Her father, like any father who wanted the best for his daughter, allowed her to work under them. However, to their bad luck, Ayame had accidentally left the ramen recipe back in Konoha—and Konoha was very, _very_ far away from Oto. So instead, she cooked other exquisite and mouthwatering dishes, and the Namikazes were equally delighted. But to this day, Kushina wished that her little knuckle-head of a son (who she loved very much, thank you!) would have one chance to eat the precious, oh-so-delicious ramen.

Well, back to what she was thinking before.

"Naruto…Don't screw up Sasuke, or anything else okay?" she raised an eye-brow, smiling softly as she ruffled his blond hair.

He looked back at her in confusion, "But kaa-chan, I heard you talkin' to tou-san once in your bedroom, and you scweamed somethin' like, '_Pwease_ screw m—" Naruto was stopped short, when he was thwacked in the back of his head, by his tomato red mother, the color of her face almost matching her dazzling hair.

"Never repeat that again…Do you understand me?" Kushina hissed through clenched teeth, as she suspiciously looked around the room.

Naruto nodded shrinking back a little. He didn't even know what that word meant…

An eerie smile spread across his mother's face, and honestly, it scared him.

"Good boy. Now enjoy your play-_date_ with Sasuke-kun okay?" and with that, and her over-flowing dignity, she walked out of the room.

Naruto quickly turned on his heel, slightly afraid to look back, and walked over to the orange desk where his play-mate was sitting, staring blankly at the piece of 'artwork' he had created.

Naruto stood over Sasuke's shoulder proud of his work. Noticing the presence behind him, Sasuke turned around and scoffed in his face.

"What the hell is this?" Sasuke held up the piece of paper with an ugly swirl and eraser marks.

Naruto's jaw clenched—yeah, even at three years old, Sasuke could make him that mad—and he glared at him. "This is my signature for becoming the next ambassador!" he said proudly crossing his arm and pushing out his chest. This made Sasuke raise an eyebrow. "Don't tell me that _you_ don't know how to write your own _name_." he snorted, "I still can't believe that _your_ father, is the new ambassador."

The last remark caused Naruto to shake violently, as his fists balled up and he punched Sasuke right in the nose. Kyuubi, his pet fox, swirled around his stubby legs licking his ankles lightly with a malicious look in his eyes. He was only _three_ years old for kami-sama's sake! How the hell was he supposed to be able to _write_ his name, when children his age were just beginning to walk? Apparently, Sasuke didn't care, because he was all _special_ and more _superior_ than him.

The impact from Naruto's mind blowing punch caused Sasuke to tumble out of his chair and fall back, with a disgruntled look on his face. "What the hell was that for!?" he screamed out, clutching his nose. Oh no, no, no…His eyes were filled up to the brim with tears unconsciously. It took everything Sasuke had to not start sobbing right there.

"For thinkin' d'at you're bedder than me!" Naruto yelled right back, spitting right in Sasuke's eye.

Sasuke's face flushed scarlet as his fists clenched.

He was _so_ going to give this loser h-e-l-l.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hearing, all the shouting, pounding—and other oddly _disturbing_ noises—Ayame, decided to finally check on the boys hoping that they hadn't messed up the room that bad.

Quietly skipping to the young master's room, Ayame hummed a joyous tune from her childhood. _'And the saints go marching in-'_

_-_

_-_

_-_

(SMACK!

"You teme!"

"You baka!"

WACK!)

-

-

-

As she neared the clearly conspicuous, neon orange door, more odd sounds echoed from the room until there was a big bang and then a barely audible _'thump'_ which then silenced everything else. Frightened by the silence, Ayame slowly opened the door so that it was ajar.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun! Where are you two…?" she asked out loud.

But before she could fully open the door, two figures fell down on top of each other.

It was…a battered Naruto and a bruised Sasuke.

Their bodies were on each other…

Mouth on mouth.

Right in front of her.

And Ayame screamed.

Like her life depended on it.

And then she abruptly fainted beside the closed door. Which opened

"_Naruto_!"

"…_Na-Naruto-kun_..."

They were in _such_ deep shit.

Damn.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"It was Sas-kay's fault kaa-san! He was da one who kicked me fiwst! And den he was all ober me!" Naruto whined as his mother firmly pressed the ice-pack to his bruised elbow. On the other side of the counter, sat a sulking Sasuke who was glaring daggers at his new rival.

Kushina sighed shaking her head dramatically.

'_Hn. It was you who punched me, and started this violent fight in the first place…If it weren't for your stupidity, I would still have my innocence…Baka…'_ Sasuke scowled, as Naruto stuck his tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes at Naruto once, and then glanced at Hinata sitting under the counter, who was fumbling with her fingers shyly, longing and distress in her pale, pale eyes.

Ugh. _Why_ and _how_ did she fall for this moron?! They were only three years old, damn it!

'_Girls are so confusing and weird…'_ he thought absentmindedly as he examined his injuries. All he had was a bruised knee, a red nose which twitched in pain from time to time, and two small red marks; one on his soft cheek, and the other on his neck.

"Sasuke-kun, let me see your injuries." Mrs. Namikaze smiled as she walked over to him, leaving a forgotten Naruto with a blushing Hinata.

"Kaa-chan!" Naruto whined swinging his legs.

'_What a loser…'_ Sasuke smirked softly, as his new rival's mother caressed his wounds. He had never whined once in his life—which was hard to believe. His parents—meaning his _mother_—had always told him to be himself, but his father had always scolded him (yes, even at three) about not being as good as his brother. So Sasuke never did anything his brother would not do, because making sure that his father accepted him was his _whole_ life. Just being his kaa-san's little, baby boy wasn't good enough for Sasuke.

As Kushina was tending to the bruise on his knee, Sasuke looked up at her and sighed, knowing what he had to do. "Mrs. Namikaze?" he asked.

She raised her head slightly, "Yes Sasuke-san?"

He took a deep breath—for a three year old. "It wasn't Naruto's fault…I started the fight. Don't get the baka in trouble because of me. I'll pay for the consequences." He confessed solemnly, tilting his head, so his dark bangs covered his eyes. Even though he had been raised to consider other people lower than him, his mother had secretly taught both of her sons how to be gentlemen when their father was out of town. To shoulder the blame instead of sharing it was her fourth lesson. Sometimes, Sasuke would fall asleep with his eyes open during a lesson, and Itachi would have to nudge him awake.

Kushina smiled and sighed with jealousy. "Naruto, I wish you were more like Sasuke. He's such a gentleman." As her finger traced the red mark on his cheek. Sasuke's eyes went wide. He was the one who was _supposed _to get in trouble, damn it!

Naruto scowled. What made his own _mother_ like the teme more than her _own_ son?

"But kaa-san, I—" Naruto started, but was interrupted by his mother.

"You should learn something or two during your next play-date with Sasuke-kun. However, _both_ of you are in trouble though."

Naruto glared at the floor, as Ayame walked in, paler than usual, and handed Naruto an icepack. He grumbled as he pushed it up to his elbow.

"Na-Naruto-kun…" Hinata stuttered softly. Her heart squeezed painfully in memory of the _incident_. She had always wanted to be her Naruto's first kiss…

Hinata shyly looked up. Everyone had forgotten that she was there.

As usual.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The weekend had passed by quicker than usual for Naruto and Sasuke, as a small brotherly rivalry started to form into a solid friendship.

One thing was for sure, and that was that they had absolutely nothing in common except for the fact that they both wanted to be the best at the things they did. Naruto detested Sasuke with a passion, because everyone—even his own mother—thought that he was better than him. Sasuke just hate Naruto's guts.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Say goodbye to Naruto, Sasuke." Mikoto Uchiha smiled, kneeling down behind her youngest son, her small palms on his shoulders.

"Goodbye baka." He grumbled. Mikoto covered her mouth dramatically with her fragile, pale hand. When and where did her little boy learn this language? She was definitely going to have a talk with Itachi…

"See ya teme!" Naruto grinned. Kushina rolled her eyes once, her arms folled against her chest. He was actually looking _forward_ to meeting Sasuke again next weekend. Sasuke was the first _human_ friend Naruto had ever made.

Smirking Sasuke and his mother walked back to their sleek, onyx Mercedes.

"Oh, and teme?" Naruto called from behind.

"Hn?" Sasuke glanced back to a beaming Naruto.

"I won't lose to you."

(Smirk.)

"We'll see…Baka…"

(Grumble.

Frown.

…Smirk.)

The friendship/ rivalry of a lifetime had begun.

* * *

o-o-o-o-o-o

Slowly, very slowly, he placed the glossy, cool knife against his burning, pale skin.

'_This will be over very quickly…'_ he thought as he brought it up to the visible, indigo vein—

(SNORE!)

His hand twitched as he glared at Sakura who had just fallen into a deep slumber. So now the girl snorts and snores like an elephant… How un-ladylike…

(SNORE!)

Sasuke glared at the slumbering figure, '_Shit! I'm can't do it while she's making these noises…ugh.'_ He snarled. But the pain…it squeezed and rapped itself around his middle like a constrictor, making his insides throb and bruise once more. His pale hand grasped the blade's handle, trembling.

(SNORE!)

"Fucking, damn it!" he cursed as he threw the knife on the floor angrily, and ran a shaky, pale hand through his wild, onyx spikes. He panted heavily while gritting his teeth, his knuckles bleached white, tendons sticking out.

This wouldn't work…He couldn't do this here with her like that. It seemed so wrong…Grumbling he stalked out of the cabin, leaving a sleeping and slumping Sakura alone…

o-o-o-o-o-o

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

**Summary:** _When he boarded that half empty train, it was to forget his life. When she boarded that half full train, it was to start a new life. But even though their view on the situation was different, they both still ended up on the same train._

**Rating:** T for teens. Slight M.

**Couples:** SakuSasu, NaruHina, ShikaTem, InoCho, GaaMats, NejiTen SuiKarSai.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunetly, I do not own any of the character Kishimoto has created.

The two main characters are Sasuke and Sakura.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

**A/N** Yo people! What's up?  
OMGoshness! Only three chapters is almost....I don't know how many words!

This shout out is for those very few people--who I love very much--who decide to take five mins out of their time and review, so my day is a little brighter, and my stories are a lot better. You guys RULE!

Okay, listen up people! Do NOT miss the tiniest details! You'll be sorry in the future…Sorry, I'm a bit sadistic at the moment due to an over dose of Pepsi…NEVER drink that stuff after 12AM!

Go check out my other crack/ humor story _'The Horrible, Unchangeable Facts of Life'_

_Important Question:_

**Do you guys think that I should continue? Your opinion counts!**

PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU READ! it would really make my day!


	4. one less suicide

* * *

**~The~ **

_**o*o*o*Ticket*o*o*o **_

_**to **_

**I**

**N**

**F**

**I**

**N**

**I**

**T**

**Y**

**Ch. 4**

by _thenote_

_

* * *

o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Something dark and painful is curling itself within her, around her, in a vine grip, as she stares at the figure in front of her. He has his back to her, his features emotionless, his eyes closed._

"…_I'm sorry." His whisper broke the dreaded silence, the moonlight dancing across his pale features. Suddenly, there is a small, yet very agonizing squeeze to her core—her heart. Her breath becomes uneven as she averts her gaze, and stares desolately at the darkened sky instead. The only illumination being given off is from the moon. Nevertheless she knows that it is really the sun behind it which is giving light. It wouldn't be as stunning and magnificent as it is without the sun…_

'It's a fake…'_ the irony causes a small, bitter smile to sneak across her flawless features._

"_Please! Don't do this! I…I...I love you so much!" she half cries, half rasps. All of her rosette hair in sprawled over her face, damp from the early morning rain. Her entire body is shivering, but not because of the frigid air..._

_His body stiffens as he partially turns his head to the side, to glance at her. It is painful for him to swallow, as he begins to try to form words in his throat. "…You love me?" his words are almost inaudible, but she hears them. _

"_Yes…" the words echoed in his ears, causing that dark lump in his throat to grow larger, "I've loved you ever since I met you…Well, not at first. But now that I know you…now that we are closer than I've ever been to anyone…You're everything I have ever wanted—no needed." She rasped, tears streaming silently down her pale cheeks, "You're like air for me…When you're not with me I feel like I'm suffocating." She choked on the last word, sobbing as she put a small, nimble palm to her heart, trying to lower her racing pulse. "Please…Stay. For me…" her last words caused him to turn shift his body, so that he was now facing her. _

"_Sakura…" he breathed walking up to her shaking figure. _

_He placed his warm fingers under her chin and tilted it up causing her soft, hazy jade eyes to pour into his dark, cold onyx ones. Their shallow breathes mingled together, as they both studied each other's features. _

"_I…I…I…I…I" the word was repeated over and over again until her body shook._

"_You what?!" she cried, "What is it—" _

(BAM!)

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Ugh…" Sakura sat up, rubbing the blotched spot on her forehead, her body shrinking away from the frigid floor. She glanced around the silent, empty cabin. Currently, her body was sprawled out on the floor, most likely because her sleeping position was not right. The miniature, wooden table in the middle had shifted slightly, probably because of the impact from her forehead.

'_I must have fallen asleep...'_ she thought as she lifted herself off the floor, clumsily knocking over the small table. _'Stupid table…' _she swiftly lifted it up and placed it back onto its former position.

A fresh grin spread onto her face as she plopped back onto her seat, and crossed her legs, her arms folded in front of her chest. Her gaze drifted from the empty seat in front of her to the blackened window. The luminous full moon gave off a mysterious aura reminding her of her abnormal dream. _'…Who was I pleading with?'_ she frowned, her eyebrows twitching downward, _'And why did I act so…so…so vulnerable?!'_ her fists clenched.

She was _anything_, but vulnerable.

Sakura bit the bottom of her luscious, pink lip so hard that it began bleeding. '_I'm _not _like that _anymore_! I will _NEVER_ be like that again!'_ her mind shouted.

'_**Yeah! Why the hell would we do that?!'**_ her inner fired back.

She could feel her pulse increasing; her heart rate was dangerously fast.

(Deep breath.

Loud exhale.)

All she could do was glare at the floor.

_You're wrong…You're still the same old Sakura… _a twisted, sickening voice hissed from the back of her mind. Her head shot up, her fists shaking.

It somehow reminded her of a venomous snake.

_You're always going to be the same…You'll always be vulnerable….You're always going to be helpless—weak _Somehow, she knew that the voice was right…

_You will always be nothing more than a BURDEN!_

**BURDEN**

…no.

_**BURDEN**_

…it's not true.

**BURDEN**

…you're all wrong!

Do you really believe that you're not _that_?

…

…

…

…no.

(zzz{thump.

'_No please! Stop!'_

Dark chuckle.

'_Hehe…look at this weakling…She's such a little burden isn't she Kin?'_

'_You're right Zaku…Look at her—she's so fragile looking…like she could break into a million pieces any second!'_

'…_I'm scared…Naruto! Please, wake up! Help me!'_

Silence.

'…_Hehe, you want to see if our theory is true?'_

'_...HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE!'_}zzz)

Sakura shot up, panting heavily at the sudden memory. _'Where the hell did that come from?!'_

She waited and waited for the venom coated voice to come back and taunt her again.

To her relief, it was gone.

'_**What just happened?!'**_ her inner whispered—for the first time in her life.

'_Oh, so now you decide to come and help me out! Thanks for nothing!'_ she grit her teeth.

'_**I have no idea what happened! I swear!'**_ her inner pleaded, only to be shut out. Sakura breathed in through her grit teeth, her shaking, sweat coated hand weaving through her hair.

'_That voice was wrong…I'm not a burden anymore. No, I'm not.'_ she tried smiling, only to have her smile come out twisted and uneven.

-

-

-

~'Sakura-chan! You're only a burden if you believe you are one…but I think—no, I know, that you aren't! Dattebayo!~

-

-

-

It soon turned into a more believable smile.

'_I'm not…'_

o-o-o-o-o-o

o()o()o()o()o

**_If we see light at the end of the tunnel,_**

**_it the light of the oncoming train._**

**_If you board the wrong train,_**

**_it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.  
_**

o()o()o()o()o

o-o-o-o-o-o

(Thump.

Shuffle.

Thump.)

He dragged his sore feet threw the dark, quiet hallway, not noticing or caring about how much his body ached for a desperate relief for The pain. He was almost to his destination.

Ah. They were there, carved into the wall as two steel giants.

The doors.

Each one had a rusty, copper handle, just begging him to pull it. There was absolutely not one soul in the hallway or corridor. Even if there was, he could just easily pull open the door to freedom and jump off the train of life.

For the third time, he prepared himself for departure, by smiling bitterly, his pale palm resting on the handle. Slowly, he pulled open the door to be whipped with a gush of frigid air. Just like how a graveyard smells. He could barely see the numerous trees or small houses they were passing, for the train was faster than his eye's picture processing.

Tempted he pushed one of his feet out, and then the next on—

"What the hell are you doing Sasuke-kun!?"

…no fucking way.

_Again. _

o-o-o-o-o-o

He viciously jerked his arm out of her hand, and placed a blank—

such a serene, voided, _intense_

—look on his face. Yet, she could still see the severity of his rage as a flash of anger blazed in his obsidian pupils.

She scowled as she glanced at the still open exit off the train. Trying to put on a brave face, when the most frightening—m

_gorgeous, beautiful, handsome_

—person alive (who could send an infinite amount of shivers down your back without even trying) was standing right in front of you, wasn't the easiest thing to do. The wind gushed in through the opening, causing her to step backward, in fear of falling off.

"What are you _doing_ here?" he hissed as he shut the door, glaring at the floor. He could feel the taste of relief disappearing quicker than it came.

Sakura gaped at him, her hands on her hips. "What am _I_ doing here?! Shouldn't _I_ be asking _you_ the same question?!" her booming voice echoed throughout the halls.

"Shit!" he whispered, grabbing her (warm, comforting, _delightful_) hand into his (frigid, icy, _cold_) own. "Keep your voice down! I don't want anyone to he—" he was cut short by the shuffle in the cabin seven feet away from them.

They both froze, as the wooden door slid open, revealing a eighty-something year old woman and a young hostess, who immediately started fumbling (un-doing) with the top buttons of her hideously colored, pale citrus shirt, when she caught a glance of Sasuke.

"What in heaven's sake is going on here?" the elderly woman inquired, as the hostess quickly sprinted back into the cabin, with a deep hue of red on her cheeks.

A pregnant pause occurred, in which Sakura blushed, Sasuke glared, and the woman hiccupped.

"Well kidos? Do ya' have an explanation or what?" the woman croaked, her frown intensifying, making her wrinkled skin bunch up. "You children nowad—"

"Would you like something to eat sir?" the hostess reappeared faster than she had disappeared, with her hair fixed and a new, glossy coat of # 37, cherry red lipstick in place. Covering the front view of her body was a large cart filled with numerous, colorfully wrapped, sparkly sweets & snacks, and the bottom portion was filled with multiple cans and bottles of soda, water, beer etc… She walked (in a very slutty way) around the cart, and shifted herself so that they (meaning Sasuke) could get a good view of her luscious, creamy legs, and some ample cleavage. It was obvious that she had altered her ugly, hostess dress to give the man a hint. However, to her dismay, his smoldering glare (which she interpreted as a loving gaze) rested on the average, yet odd looking girl—

she was a _woman_! damn it!

—on his right. Her eyebrows furrowed into her forehead, as she stared at the girl next to him. She had never seen a guy this…this…this Godlike not even _glance _at her and not become erect.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the gorgeous hostess and then back at Sasuke, whose glare was too intimidating to even glance at. Oh, come on! This girl was basically stripping in front of them and he wouldn't even _glance_ at her.

'_**Geez, doesn't this guy have any hormones?!'**_ her inner scoffed.

'_Yeah, I mean he won't even look at this amazingly beautiful girl, and just keeps glaring back at us.'_ She snorted.

"Hmph!" the elderly woman turned her head rudely, and wobbled back into her cabin, shutting the door loudly.

"Um, sir we have many assortments of delicious food here." She pushed the cart a little closer, and to her half-a-second of elation he spared her half a glance and snorted.

"Hn." He replied as he walked down the hall, leaving the hostess agape.

"Uh, sorry! He's socially retarded!" Sakura grinned sheepishly at the hostess and ran after him.

"Damn it Sasuke! Wait for me!" she panted trying to keep up with him, leaving the hostess and the hall alone.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" she bellowed, placing her hands on her hips once they reached the cabin.

Ignoring her, he seated himself in the far right corner, and started brooding.

"Don't you realize how important a human life really is?! Why are you trying to commit suicide?! Didn't you ever think about how your family will feel if you do this?!" she bellowed. The last remark made his head shoot up.

'Didn't you ever realize how your family will feel if you do this?!' the words replayed themselves in his head.

'…_they won't care at all.'_ his mind whispered.

"It's none of your business." He snarled, glaring at her.

-

-

-

Obsidian boiled—emerald steamed.

-

-

-

"Hell it is _my_ business! The loss of a human life is _everyone's_ business!" she screamed back scowling.

"Hn." He decided not to give her an answer.

"Why are you so…so…ugh!" she retorted, as she plopped back onto the seat across from him. "Sasuke…" she sighed as a frown arrived on her lips. He tilted his head up so he could see her expression. Even her pleading frown couldn't get him to give her a clue about anything.

"Stupid poker face…" she muttered as she turned over to her side and slowly closed her eyelids, with sweet, sweet sleep waiting for her.

* * *

**4.**

**~The Revolting Compromise~**

"_Nii-san, I can't marry her!__**"**_

"But nii-san! It's not right! I cannot marry Hinata-san! She was the baka's, I mean _Naruto's_ bride!" a seven year old Sasuke wailed to his big brother, on the little boardwalk their uncle had created on the lake. Sasuke had never acted like this with anyone else.

Itachi sighed.

_Again._

No matter how many times Itachi had tried to explain to him that this was a mandatory—_sacrifice_—wedding between the Hyuugas and the Uchihas, Sasuke just wouldn't agree. Itachi—

_unfortunately_

—was given the job of breaking the news to his darling, little brother, since he was closest person to Sasuke. Their father had to force this unruly decision upon his son for the sake of their relations with the Hyuugas. Ever since the bombing incident which killed the Ambassador, his wife, and supposedly their only son, Naruto, everything had been chaos.

Many allegations were brought up between the Hyuugas and Uchiha's about destroying important ties, and the only professional way to handle the situation was to make a compromise. This compromise, however, was not professional. It consisted of an arranged marriage between the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata and the second son of the Uchihas, Sasuke. If they were tied together in holy matrimony, then the Hyuugas and the Uchihas would become one unstoppable, very powerful force.

And that was what brought them here today.

"Nii-san! Please! Please! Please, get them to stop the wedding!" Sasuke pleaded, hugging his brother's leg fiercely.

"Sasuke, how many times do I have to tell you…The wedding won't take place until you both are _eighteen_—that's _eleven_ more years. There is still plenty of time for you two to get to know each other." Itachi said calmly, ruffling his brother's hair.

Sasuke pouted, and crossed his arms across his chest. "But I would be betraying the baka! He really liked Hinata-san!" he whispered.

Itachi smiled softly, "Don't you think that he would want his best friend and the girl he loves to be happy too?"

Sasuke shifted his head so his dark bangs fell over his eyes, his body facing the beautiful, cerulean lake. "…I guess so…"

"Good. Now let's go back home, mother is waiting for us with ongiri."

* * *

o-o-o-o-o-o

_Cccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!_

"Passengers please assemble into a line and carefully leave the train through an open exit…" the mechanical voice echoed through the halls, and bounced off the walls of their cabin.

Slowly a pale eyelid opened, revealing a supple, jade pupil.

(YAWN!)

"Mmm…" Sakura mumbled, stretching her arms as far as her body would allow her to. Cracking her knuckles noisily, she stood up and slid the strap of her purse under her arm. Grabbing one overweight bag in each hand she grinned, "Come on Sasuke, let's go."

No answer.

"Sasuke?" she asked glancing around the cabin only to find it completely empty.

_Vacant._

_Void._

With no one other than her.

'_**Where on earth did that boy g—Oh crap.'**_ Her inner self's eyes popped out.

"Oh my god! He's going to try to kill himself again!" she screamed running out of the cabin, causing havoc throughout the line of people waiting to get off the train.

o-o-o-o-o-o

(Grumble.

Shuffle.

Glare.)

Dragging his sore feet across the wet pavement, with his fists thrusted into his pockets, Sasuke glared at anything that came in his way. Meaning children, the elderly, families, birds, stray cats and dogs, heck even the smallest bug. The other passengers tended to run to the side when they felt his frigid, threatening aura. Even the wind seemed to head in the other direction when Sasuke was brooding. His dark, ebony locks covered his obsidian eyes, but his face wasn't hidden from view. A few women and girls would sigh or giggle as he approached, trying to get his attention. However, nothing they seemed to do could distract him from brooding.

'_Where the hell am I suppose to go now?'_ his mind grumbled. The image of the rosette haired—_annoying_—girl popped into his mind and he winced remembered how high-pitched her voice was. _'At least she's not here anymore…'_ he sighed. '_But she looked so freaking familiar…'_ he pondered as he made his way through the crowd at the station.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"M'am, have you seen a brooding, mysterious guy around here?" Sakura panted, to a woman who was holding a toddler in her arm, clutching her load of luggage as she raced through the throng of arriving passengers.

The woman shook her head and frowned, "I'm sorry darling, but I didn't se—" the woman didn't get to finish before the girl had disappeared in the crowd. "Kids these days…" she sighed, as she tickled her toddler's nose causing a small laugh to come from his lips.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The crowd's population lessened greatly with the arrival of a new train, as Sakura found it much easier to weave through them. Asking random people for information about someone you just met wasn't as easy as it looked. But she swore on her pet flamingo's grave that she would find him and beat some sense into him before her next and final train left. Why was she doing this for some random stranger she just met, you ask? Well…she _said_ that she wouldn't let an innocent life end on _her_ special day.

However, only her inner consciousness knew the real reason; she _had_ met him before.

("Sir have you seen a tall, mysterious, brooding guy?"

"I'm sorry, but no I haven't."

"Damn you!"

"_Excuse me_ young lady?"

"Oh! No sir, _not_ you! Sorry!")

And dragging eighty pounds of clothes, makeup, and _ready mate_ _ramen cups_ (courtesy of Naruto) wasn't the easiest thing to do.

Shuffling through the men and women, she searched and searched and harass—I mean, asked other civilians for her dear, little, suicidal friend. Finally, she reached a breaking point.

"Sasuke _Whateveryourlastnameis_, don't kill yourself! I'm coming for you!" she shouted to the heavens throwing her fists in the air, attracting quite a few—meaning everyone at the station—passenger's gazes.

Blink.

Blink.

Oops.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"_Sasuke Whateveryournameis, don't kill yourself! I'm coming for you!"_

Pause.

_...Okay._

Sasuke was in the midst of a group of boarding passengers for the next train—from above, you could see the large gap between him and the rest of the civilians.

'_Oh goodie gum drops—the annoying police is here too.'_ His mind sneered at the sound of her voice.

"Hn." He grumbled as he walked into a shady, dark alley, disappearing into the shadows…

o-o-o-o-o-o

'_**Alright, that was such a great way to get his—and everyone else's—attention.'**_ Her inner self mocked.

Sakura was now walking through a practically empty station, her eyes searching wildly for the one person she decided that she hated the most at the time—how ironic. The only people that remained in the station were a trio of hobos, an elderly man, a young boy and his mother sitting on a stool next to a small shed like shop that seemingly sold water and peanuts.

'_Oh, like you could do any better.'_ She scoffed back. She glanced at the cherry red, wrist watch Naruto had given her last year for her birthday (it drained most of his wallet, but he still provided it, because he never breaks a promise!) noticing the short amount of time—about thirty minutes—she had before her second train would leave.

Suddenly, a whiff of ebony caught her attention, only by chance because she had only spared the alley a small glance before stopping short. Sakura sighed, clutching her bags as she warily stepped into the dark alley.

"…Sasuke?" she called out softly.

No answer.

"Sasuke are you here…?"

Silence.

"Sas—mph!!!" a pale, clammy hand closed over her mouth stopping her from breathing.

Her eyes widened significantly, as consciousness slowly left her, breaking her off from the rest of the world…

o-o-o-o-o-o

* * *

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

**Summary:** _When he boarded that half empty train, it was to forget his life. When she boarded that half full train, it was to start a new life. But even though their view on the situation was different, they both still ended up on the same train._

**Rating:** T for teens.

**Couples:** SakuSasu, NaruHina, ShikaTem, InoCho, GaaMats, NejiTen SuiKarSai.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunetly, I do not own any of the character Kishimoto has created.

The two main characters are Sasuke and Sakura.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

**A/N**: Woo-hoo! Another chapter finished! So what did you guys think? I think that I will continue this with your support of course. I really have to thank you guys for putting a little more sunshine in my day—as you can see, I am truly grateful for you people.

Now, I listen to different songs which inspire each chapter—would you guys like to get the names of each of these songs for the chapters?

Also**, BIG NOTICE!**

**How many of you guys are pissed off at the manga, and at Sasuke for going all insane**? Well, I certainly am. So I decided to start a new fanfic called **_Numb_**. The title refers to what people become after the world throws all these terrible things at them. I mean, like no one was born a bad person, because it is the world that molds them into what they are. The whole story takes place after the big fight at the Kage meeting and then on. It revolves mainly around SasuSaku and the changes between them and all of the other shinobi. **_For all you people who think that this is going to be another stupid fanfic where he comes back is wooed by her body, and new abilities and then falls in love with her in like a day, you all are WRONG!_**

This story is supposed to have more than 60 chapters and different arcs as well. Love does not happen that easily people!

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW AND CHECK OUT _NUMB_! I swear that it won't disappoint you. Oh, and no OOCness in Numb either.**

Be happy my beautiful reviewers! And REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Smiles.

_-thenote._


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